Crazy Weather
by Golden Lunar Eclipse
Summary: Arnold and his friends go on a cross-country road trip together post-graduation, making a stop in the most haunted town of America, Amity Park. Perhaps getting to witness a ghost attack and the famous Danny Phantom firsthand may bring danger just a tad too close for comfort. One-shot.


_Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction and I don't own any rights to Danny Phantom or Hey Arnold!_

* * *

GLE – Because I can't believe no one's done a crossover between these two series, despite many people writing for both series. Thanks to Erratta for betaing, and to Fey for some constructive conversations on this!

 _Hey Arnold!_ premiered October 7th, 1996, and if Arnold started grade 4 then, he graduated high school in 2005. _Danny Phantom_ premiered April 3rd, 2004, and if Danny was in grade 9 at the time, then he would've been in between grades 10 and 11 in the summer of 2005.

This is set in the summer of 2005, post-series for both series ( _Hey Arnold!: The Movie_ and "Phantom Planet" have both happened… and whether or not _The Jungle Movie_ happened, it doesn't matter – but I'm totally looking forward to seeing it! For those that don't know, it's supposed to air American Thanksgiving 2017 as a tv movie that answers pretty much any question that was left unanswered about _Hey Arnold!_ , including why Arnold has a football-shaped head!).

-(x)-

 **Crazy Weather**

The road was blocked by a mountain of snow which had just been dumped from the sky in a flash blizzard. The old Packard was unprepared for such weather, considering it was June and the forecast had promised hot and sunny days for the next week. With brakes squealing, it swerved on a thin layer of ice and skidded into the curb. Four teens climbed carefully out and took in more of their surroundings. A large figure was hovering between the buildings at the other end of the street. His green skin was glowing, his chest was black with a gold lightning bolt, and wisps of cloud circled his tail.

"Are you guys seeing what I'm seeing?" asked Gerald.

The ghost raised a pair of gloved hands and began cackling until an abrupt ball of green energy knocked him towards the ground.

"Vortex!"

A much smaller figure flew down from the rooftops, immediately recognizable as the hero of the world, startling white hair, trademark logo, and all.

"Really? Snow in June?" Danny Phantom frowned.

The green monster recovered, smiling in Danny's direction. He inhaled noisily. "Beautiful, isn't it, Ghost Boy?"

He spread his arms, palms up. The sky darkened and snow turned into rain.

"Ack! Back in the car!" said Helga, reaching for the door handle, only to swipe at nothing as an unnatural current of air picked the car up and launched it down the street.

"My car!" shouted Arnold.

Danny dodged the airborne vehicle and sent a series of controlled ectoblasts at his opponent. The large ghost absorbed the attacks and the rain was replaced by fog. The teens watching from the other end of the street could barely see what was happening anymore. There were a few flashes of green light that broke through the mist, but not much else. They hurriedly backed themselves up to a building for cover.

The weather changed abruptly again, the fog and clouds giving way to clear blue skies. Arnold and his friends spotted the ghosts in the distance, flying away over the buildings.

It was quiet for a moment, then Helga rounded on the afternoon's driver.

"Great job, Geraldo! You just had to bring us to the one most haunted city on Earth! Where the ghosts are actually real!"

"Hey! Don't blame me!" Gerald crossed his arms. "It was your boyfriend's idea to do a road trip across America, starting in this direction!"

"You're right," Helga stated, voice suddenly calm. A slow smile crept onto her face. "I should've never doubted you."

Gerald's momentary shock turned into a devious grin as both he and Helga approached Arnold with matching expressions. Teasing the nice guy was just too much fun.

"Hey guys, that's not fair!" Arnold began to protest. "I just lost my car. You can't blame me for all of this!"

"Oh?" asked Helga in a sugary sweet voice that did nothing to hide her true intentions from him. She wrapped her hands around his arm and snuggled closer to him. "And why not, darling?"

"Because we all decided on this together. You were with me when we watched those Danny Phantom news reports on TV!" He pulled away from Helga and turned his annoyed expression on Gerald. "And even you thought it'd be neat to check out the hometown of Earth's saviour!"

Gerald raised his hands in surrender. "Fair enough." He looked at the overturned car on the other end of the street and shook his head. "Man, I can't believe we actually got to see a real ghost fight."

Helga huffed, giving in. "And now the car's toast. Kaput. Kablooey. How are we going to finish our road trip?"

"I wasn't entirely convinced that hunk of junk was gonna get us across the country anyways," said Gerald. "I thought it'd probably break down before we got two states away."

Helga raised an eyebrow at that. "Why'd you come on this vacation, then?"

Gerald grinned. "What? Miss out on some good times with my girlfriend and best bud? Even hanging out with you can be fun sometimes, Pataki."

"Darn right it is. I'm a little ray of sunshi—!"

"Perhaps it would be advisable for us to go to a different location," interrupted Phoebe.

The other three looked at her in surprise and confusion. The sky suddenly darkened above them.

A little more frantically, Phoebe raised her voice. "Didn't you hear me? I said move it, move it, MOVE IT!"

They immediately obeyed her orders and ducked out of the way of an incoming blue lightning strike. The blast hit the ground where they'd been standing mere seconds before. Another volley of unnatural ecto-electricity came racing in their direction, but a green shield popped up in the nick of time.

Danny Phantom flew over to them and shouted, "Run!"

Eyes wide with a mixture of awe and fear, the older teens nodded. They hurried into the alley around the corner. There was a loud boom as Danny's attack met more electricity. The ground shook from the force of it.

Phoebe clasped her hands together tightly, lips taut in a thin line. Gerald put his arm around her and held her close. Helga inched forward to get a better look. When another lightning strike thundered, she jumped backwards and latched onto Arnold.

The wind picked up. Danny slid sideways across the sky as it buffeted him around.

Arnold felt Helga's nails dig into his shoulder.

Vortex sucked in a huge breath, then let it out in a strong, continuous blast at Danny, throwing him into the side of a building. The wall cracked a little. Danny gritted his teeth.

Arnold bit his lip as his eyes darted back and forth between hero and assailant.

Danny went intangible and righted himself. The wind stopped. There was a momentary hush as the two ghosts stared one another down. The teens in the alley held their breaths.

Danny sighed, crossing his arms. "Aren't you tired of doing the same thing all the time?"

Vortex gasped indignantly. "No! The weather is never the same!" Another gulping gasp. "It is a carefully crafted art that changes at my whim!"

Helga's grip loosened a little and she whispered to Arnold, "That's art?"

Danny gave Vortex a deadpan stare. "Uh, yeah. Exactly." He stifled a yawn. "Boring."

Arnold almost chuckled at Vortex's expression. The tension he'd been feeling since the attack started was slowly dissipating. Danny Phantom sure was good at this.

Smirking, Danny added, "Now, some seasonal temperatures, _that_ would be pretty innovative on your part, don't you think?"

Helga did laugh at that. Arnold quickly covered her mouth with his hand. Luckily the ghosts hadn't noticed them.

"Don't dare to mock my masterpiece, Ghost Boy!"

Vortex roared, creating numerous mini-tornadoes which converged on Danny. Danny split into four separate figures. He zoomed around the tornadoes, each of his duplicates attempting to land a punch or a blast on his foe. The green ghost staved off most of the attacks, until one Danny kicked him hard in the side. Vortex slammed onto the ground.

"Yeah! Right in the kisser!" Helga fist-pumped, letting go of Arnold.

Danny's eyes, including those of his duplicates, glowed a light blue and ice formed around the larger ghost. The sky cleared, with not a cloud in sight, and the sun shone down bright and hot. Vortex looked smug for a moment, until he realized that the heat could not melt Danny's ice. He began to struggle, now almost entirely frozen.

"Woah," said Arnold, impressed.

One of the Dannys broke formation and unclipped a device from his belt. He pointed it at Vortex and a beam of blue light flared outwards, latching onto the menacing ghost and pulling him inside. Danny recapped the thermos, his duplicates disappearing.

"And back to sunny skies for the week. That's it for the weather report!" he quipped.

The Hillwood kids ventured out onto the street, looking up at the half-ghost. Arnold started clapping, with Gerald and Phoebe joining in, while Helga just crossed her arms and smirked.

Danny glanced down at them, then at the car on the other end of the street. He floated to the ground and transformed back into human form. The older teens' mouths dropped open. Not only had they been involved in a ghost attack, but here they were, face-to-face with Danny Phantom, _and_ they got to see his transformation up close!

Rubbing the back of his neck, Danny said, "I hope your car was insured. Tucker's been getting on my case about property damage, and I've been _trying_ to keep the fights in the sky."

Arnold smiled. It wasn't the first time he'd met a celebrity, and he knew everyone made mistakes, not that he could fault Danny Phantom for a rogue ghost stealing his car.

"Thanks for saving us!" he said brightly.

"That ice attack of yours was _sweet_!" Gerald gave a thumbs-up.

"I concur," agreed Phoebe. "Your fight was marvelous." Nervously, she added, "Would it be too much trouble to ask you for an autograph?"

Danny smiled. "Sure," he said, taking the notebook and pen Phoebe handed to him. "So, are you college students? I don't think I've seen you at Casper High."

"We just graduated from high school, and we're not from here," said Arnold.

Danny took the paper Gerald held out for him next. "Tourists? Did you come to Amity Park just for the ghosts?"

"Well…," began Arnold.

"It was on the way," Helga interrupted. "We're doing a cross-country road trip before we go off to college."

"Nice," said Danny. He signed the page at the back of Helga's pink notebook that she'd opened for him. "I did one of those with my best friends last year, before the whole Disasteroid thing, when no one knew who I was. Or well, everyone knew at the time, but then they didn't. It was definitely an adventure."

Danny finished off with Arnold's brown journal, then handed it back along with the pen.

Gerald was about to ask Danny what it was like to have ghost powers when Arnold jumped in.

"Uh, you wouldn't happen to know a good auto repair shop around here, would you? And a cheap hotel or hostel would be great too."

Wincing slightly while looking at the battered car, Danny kindly pointed them towards the nearest repair shop and youth hostel he knew about. Then his phone rang.

Politely excusing himself, Danny took a step back and answered.

"Hey, Sam!" he said brightly. The huge grin that spread across his face disappeared almost immediately. "Wait, what?" His eyes then lit with realization. "Oh … got it." And the smile returned. "Yeah, sure. See you soon!"

Danny pocketed his phone and transformed into his ghostly alter-ego.

"I gotta go," he said to the older teens. "Sorry for your car and your vacation. I hope you enjoy your stay in Amity Park!"

And with that, he took off into the sky.

Arnold, Gerald, Helga, and Phoebe watched as Danny become nothing but a speck in the distance, then turned to face one another.

"That was awesome!" exclaimed Helga. "Man, can you imagine everyone's faces when we tell them about this at the Princess's Final-Party-Before-College next month?"

Phoebe and Gerald smiled in agreement, and despite the circumstances surrounding his car and their trip, Arnold couldn't help but grin too. So what if they were currently stranded and he might be without a car until he could save up to buy another one? There was always a bright side, and Helga was right. This adventure made for a great story.

-(x)-


End file.
